On Monday, the Central Bank of Egypt offered government treasury bills denominated in USD, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, at about $1.585 billion for 364 days. The country’s external debt has risen by 14.79 per cent from the level of $108.699 billion in June 2019, on an annual basis. According to the data, long-term external debt rose by 11.6 per cent quarterly to reach $112.6 billion by the end of June 2020, compared to $100.97 billion in March 2020, a difference of $11.65 billion.
The Central Bank stated, on its website, that the offers amounted to about $1.755 billion, with 38 offers, and the highest return on offer was about four per cent. In contrast, the lowest return on offer was 3.34 per cent, and the average return was 3.44 per cent. The Central Bank stated that it approved 33 offers worth $1.585 billion, with an average return of 3.394 per cent, and that the highest return on accepted offers was about 3.401 per cent. In contrast, the lowest return was recorded at 3.34 per cent. Last week, the Central Bank of Egypt offered government treasury bills denominated in euros, worth 698.3 million euros, for a period of 364 days, with an average return of 1.396 per cent.
The last bid for dollar-denominated treasury bills was June, and the Central Bank sold, at that time, treasury bills worth $509.3 million, for a period of 364 days, with an average return of 3.446 per cent. Last October, the Central Bank announced that short-term external debt declined by 5.3 per cent, or $549.5 million, to reach $10.866 billion in June 2020, compared to $10.316 billion in June 2019.
Egypt’s external debt increased by approximately 12.2 per cent during the last three months of the fiscal year 2019/2020, to record $123.49 billion at the end of last June, compared to $111.29 billion in the previous March, an increase of $12.2 billion.
